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Questions/Molting/Female??????

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im goin 2 the pet store today 2 get a G.rosea for 19 dollars and i was wondering if its a good price b/c it has a big abdomen and has a bald spot on its back and is it a female b/c its huge and bulky i guess i can say they been feeding it good or its a female 2 but ur help would b most appreciated

keep in mind that it might just be a big male (hey it happens) and that pet stores know vertually nothing about exotics. i think it is a good price, and a great t...go for it, but keep in mind you will most likely be buying a WC rosea, which could die tonite, or 3-8 years from now, there is no way of knowing how old it is, or what its care has been like

a WC tarantula will be taken outta the wild, point being, there will be one less t in the wild that should be there, this is why t's are becoming endangered. also keep in mind that if it is WC, and its female, it could also be gravid...meaning slings in your future possibly

i'd buy CB (captive bred) over WC anyday if given the choice, but yes it sounds like a good deal

I see nothing in what you stated that would guarantee that this tarantula is a female. Size is NOT a good method for determining the sex of a tarantula. Even if the pet shop is stating that it is a female I would be skeptical. As mentioned, most pet shops' knowledge of tarantulas is next to nil. As far as the price goes, it isn't bad.

With that said, if it is a wild caught female and it is quite large, there is a chance that it is gravid. Would you be prepared for 100's of slings? You may be thinking "Great, I can sell them and make a bunch of money". However, keep in mind that G. rosea tarantulas do not sell for much and it is not easy to sell hundreds of them. In the long run it will probably cost you more than what you would make.

"Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?" - Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot